The New Hampshire Supreme Court said four of the state's most notorious young killers should receive new sentencing hearings in light of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences for juvenile killers are unconstitutional.

The New Hampshire court's unanimous ruling, released Friday, mandates new sentencing hearings for Robert Tulloch, Robert Dingman, Eduardo Lopez and Michael Soto, all convicted killers who were under the age of 18 when they killed their victims.

Tulloch stabbed to death two Dartmouth professors in 2001. Dingman killed his parents in 1996 rather than abide by curfews and other house rules.

Lopez was convicted in 1993 of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man who tried to drive away when Lopez approached his car and demanded money. He was 17 at the time of the shooting.

Soto was convicted of accomplice to first-degree murder in 2007. Investigators said he was 17 when he cocked and handed a friend a gun that was used to kill another man.

Prosecutors argued that the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling should not be applied retroactively, but the state's highest court disagreed.

Lawyers for the four said their clients were children and lesser sentences should be considered.

The state Supreme Court reviewed the case after a trial court also ruled that the four should have new sentencing hearings. At those hearings, the four could potentially still be sentenced to life in prison without parole, but the court ruling means that such a sentence cannot be mandatory for juvenile offenders.